It was rather amusing and quite fun to watch the girls all scramble to peek out the windows in the wake of Kassandra’s revelation. Even the calm Shayla rushed to get a view of the town. I just waited, partially because Kassandra still had me wrapped up tight, and partially because I knew I’d get a good look shortly when the carriage stopped.

  Kassandra bounced happily in my lap, still doing her absolute best to tease me senseless while she looked past the curtains at the town going by.

  “Oh, the buildings are so pretty!” exclaimed Jane, with Rieka muttering her agreement. “I can tell that the people who live here are proud of their homes with how much care goes into them.”

  “The mountains in the background look so majestic too,” Shayla murmured, her wings taking the opportunity to flex and flutter while they weren’t pinned behind her.

  “There is a terrace at the manor that looks out over the orchard towards the mountains, Shayla. If you wanted to sit there to sketch, we can arrange that,” Kassandra offered helpfully, her happy wiggling picking up speed to match the gentle, affectionate squeezes of her tail around my legs.

  The bouncing of the carriage was a bit more pronounced over the cobblestone street, even though we were slowing down due to the people I could see around Kassandra’s head when she looked out the window. So, to help steady my dwarf lamia lap-warmer, I shifted my grip to her hips while she leaned to one side. This also had the effect of stopping her from bouncing up and down on my crotch, which was beginning to leave an uncomfortable stiffness behind.

  Kassandra turned to shoot me a wicked glance over her shoulder, her chocolate-brown eyes sparkling with mischief. That one glance was enough to tell me that her bouncing had been entirely intentional. A thought that was only further confirmed when she started to instead grind her hips back and forth in my lap.

  “Kass,” I said warningly.

  “What?” Kassandra replied innocently.

  “Have a bit of mercy on me, would you?” I asked, leaning over so I could speak quietly in her ear. “I know you are enjoying teasing me, but at this rate I’m going to have to Shape-Shift

  I didn’t really plan on going through with it, blame that on a man’s attachment to his bits if you will, but apparently the threat seemed earnest enough that Kassandra’s eyes widened and her hips stopped wiggling immediately.

  “Don’t you dare!” Kassandra protested sharply. I raised my eyebrows questioningly, and she nodded huffily a moment later.

  “Good girl,” I said, giving her hip a squeeze that made her expression go smoky once more. “Behave for now, save it for later.”

  “Fine,” Kassandra grumped, but from the small hook of a smile on the corner of her mouth, I could tell she wasn’t that upset.

  The ride through the village didn’t take too long, with the carriage only having to stop once. From the clank of metal and stomp of boots, I guessed it was the gateway to the manor grounds.

  Only once the carriage rolled to a stop did Kassandra finally unwind herself from around me and return to her seat to fix her skirt.

  “No sense in letting the servants talk about what we might have gotten up to in here,” Kassandra said airily, while Rieka rolled her eyes at her friend.

  “Like the sudden presence of a man in the carriage when there wasn’t one when we left the way-station hours ago isn’t going to cause enough talk?”

  “Do you want me to disguise myself?” I asked, subtly checking the front of my pants. Because of Kassandra’s anatomy, her lady-bits were on the front of her tail, so I wasn’t really worried about her leaving a wet spot on my jeans. But having a girl grinding in your lap for that long will still make any man question and want to check.

  Thankfully, my little soldier hadn’t made a mess and my clothes were fine, so I turned my full attention to the girls.

  “No, there is no need to hide who or what you are, Liam,” Kassandra said with a shrug. “The coachman saw you with us the other day, and I did warn them that we had a rather unusual summoned guardian.”

  “Probably for the best, since you girls couldn’t travel incognito if you were heading to the manor,” I said before reaching for the door.

  “Wait, Liam. Let the servants handle it,” Rieka said quickly, freezing my hand on the latch.

  “Servants?” I asked before the carriage shook slightly to one side as someone stepped up onto the runner and opened the door.

  “My lady, welcome home!” said a man dressed in a neat tunic and pants combination in a dark red and brown combination.

  He was young, maybe the same age as Kassandra or a year younger, so I put him in his early twenties. Long blond hair tied back into a crisp ponytail fell over his shoulder as he bowed through the door, holding a hand out respectfully to help Kassandra out. A pair of pointed wolf ears poked out of blond hair, while a well groomed tail that matched them hung behind him.

  I’d reflexively shifted my left hand to bear claws as soon as the carriage had shifted, but relaxed when Kassandra laid a hand on my arm.

  “It’s fine, Liam. That’s Tian, the butler in charge of the house servants here,” she murmured rapidly in my ear before slithering past.

  In the time that I’d known Kassandra, the dwarf lamia had rarely put on any airs or acted anything like a noblewoman might. Case in point her earlier antics to wind me up in the carriage by rubbing her peachy bottom on me.

  But the moment she emerged from the carriage and the sunlight washed over her rippling mass of bombshell curls, she changed.

  Accepting the hand offered to her as if she needed it for support, Kassandra demurely lowered herself from the carriage, her long tail winding out to settle on the clean cobblestone of the drive behind her.

  “It is good to be home, Tian. I have four guests with me, as I mentioned in the letter. Are the rooms ready?” Kassandra asked politely.

  “Yes, my lady,” Tian answered quickly, his eyes darting towards the dark interior of the carriage. I guessed the man couldn’t see inside with how bright it was outside. “Though we have the space to make up a room for every—”

  “It’s fine, Tian. My room and three guest rooms are all we need,” Kassandra insisted.

  The young butler nodded quickly, his head dipping into a bow to Kassandra. I couldn’t see her face, but I could already imagine the mischievous twinkle in her intelligent brown eyes. The tip of her tail was flicking back and forth like a metronome, something else I’d learned showed that my trouble-making lover was entertained.

  So I decided to do my part and also add to the trouble my dear Nugget was mixing up.

  Shifting and sliding over, I made the carriage rock. That motion made Tian jump and turn as if he was going to offer his hand to help down one of Kassandra’s friends. From his demeanor, he was expecting another noblewoman, but he got me instead.

  “Howdy,” I said with a smile as I swung down out of the carriage and onto the drive, not accepting his hand. “Don’t mind me.”

  Turning back to the carriage, I held my hand out exactly how I’d just seen Tian do.

  “You really shouldn’t tease the help, Liam,” Rieka said as she emerged next, delicately accepting my hand and stepping down as Kassandra wound her scaled length out of the way.

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  “Princess Rieka, it is an honor to have you as a guest once more,” Tian said quickly, stepping back to give her space and dipping into an even deeper bow than he’d given Kassandra.

  I had to give it to the guy, he’d only stared at me in open-mouthed surprise for a second before he recovered and adjusted his approach. Nothing in his demeanor told me that he was being anything other than professional as well, something that I found oddly reassuring.

  I thought with a grin as I helped Jane down next.

  The miniature scholar stumbled as she stepped down, so I lightly caught her by the waist and swung her to her feet like it was entirely normal.

  “Thanks, Liam,” Jane squeaked, her face flushed at the misstep but she straightened up and stepped to one side to make space as Shayla came to the door next.

  “Thank you, Liam,” Shayla said gently, her wings stretching out and fluttering wildly in a riot of color and motion that made her sun-dress dance in the breeze they created. “Oh that feels so much better…”

  “We can plan a few more rest stops during the day, Shayla,” Kassandra offered her friend. “I just wanted to make sure we made it before sundown.”

  “It’s fine, Kass,” Shayla replied with a smile to the other woman.

  I saw Tian stiffen slightly out of the corner of my eye, and I guessed he wasn’t as happy with his mistress being addressed so casually. But other than the slight change in his posture, he didn’t show it, so I didn’t say anything.

  I thought.

  The girls all had their bags with them, and hadn’t bothered bringing other luggage in addition. So it just took a quick look into the carriage to make sure no one had forgotten anything—Jane had left a book on the seat of the carriage, so I grabbed it for her—and then the carriage was on its way again.

  “You forgot this,” I said, passing the slim leather-bound volume off to the mouse kin woman.

  Jane snatched the book from my hand, going even darker red as she stuffed it into her bag.

  “Thank you, Liam!” Jane squeaked out before biting her bottom lip. “You… you didn’t open it, did you?”

  “No?” I asked curiously, wondering if I’d missed something. “Is it a journal or something? I wouldn’t want to invade your privacy if it was. I only knew it was yours because it was sitting on your seat.”

  Rieka’s snicker drew my attention to her, and I saw my princess was smirking while her tail bounced in amusement behind her, the coal-dipped tip of her platinum-blonde tail a blur as it moved.

  “Not at all,” Rieka said airily, her sky-blue eyes dancing. “Just some ‘entertainment’ material, right Jane?”

  “Rieka!” Jane protested in a whine, her own long, tufted tail flailing frantically behind her at the other woman’s teasing.

  I didn’t have to ask more to figure out what that book might have contained. Especially with Shayla’s shy grin and faint blush as she watched the two argue with interest.

  I thought with a smile.

  “What do you mean?!”

  Kassandra’s exclamation broke through my distraction and I glanced over to find Tian leaning over to murmur in my Nugget’s ear. The dwarf lamia, formerly so composed, was chewing her bottom lip in clear frustration, her brows knitted together.

  “What’s up, Kass?” I asked while the other three turned to her as well with concerned looks from surveying the grounds around us.

  Kassandra heaved a sigh, her shoulders slumping in resignation as she met my eyes.

  “My parents are here.”

  <><><>

  Tian was quick to explain that, apparently, the elder Silverscales had apparently been warned by Queen Gemma that Kassandra’s group would be passing through and stopping at the estates on our way north. The fact that we’d be spending several days here was apparently enough of a chance to see their daughter that the couple couldn’t resist.

  Or at least that was the reason that they’d given Tian when they’d shown up and moved into the second-best suite in the manor a week prior.

  “This sucks,” Kassandra grumbled as we made our way to the front of the mansion.

  “My lady…” Tian cautioned, but Kassandra silenced him with a wave of her hand.

  “I’m not upset at my parents for stopping by to see me. I missed them too. I’m just upset that they didn’t see fit to warn me,” Kassandra sighed again explosively before she took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders.

  “Well, I guess I don’t get to tease Rieka for Liam meeting her dad anymore, do I?” Kassandra said with resignation.

  “Nope, you do not,” Rieka said with a wide grin from the other side of the dwarf lamia. “Besides, it will be good to see your parents again.”

  Kassandra grumbled under her breath incoherently, but I had a feeling that she was just putting on a front. So instead, I took in our surroundings.

  The manor estate that was attached to Kassandra’s lands wasn’t lavish, but it was well cared-for and very functional. The grounds were well kept with plenty of trees and bushes that were carefully trimmed and organized, while statuary dotted about in shaded spots.

  The drive that we’d come in on looped briefly around a small garden feature with carefully trimmed hedges and had another small drive that led to an out-of-the-way stable in the corner of the yard by the tall stone wall that circled the manor.

  That stone wall was the second most impressive thing about the manor grounds, as it stood a good ten feet tall and had sharp iron spikes along the top. It was hard to gauge just how big the plot of land the manor was on, but I had a feeling that it encompassed more ground than my new plot of land had back on Earth.

  Standing smack dab in the middle of the plot, set back from the drive, was the manor house itself. The edifice was both regal and demure at the same time.

  While I’d been on Cortha—especially while visiting Rieka at the palace, which I’d still only really seen from the inside—I’d seen some rather outlandishly garish homes. Expensive hardwoods exposed to the weather accented by gold leaf and the like. But Kassandra’s manor was solid, refined, and confident in itself.

  The walls were carefully fitted basalt, the black stone showing a bit of weathering around the edges but secure. The windows were polished and clean, the glass of high quality. Thick curtains were gathered at the edges of the windows, allowing lots of light through the upper floors. Carvings decorated the bricks along the ground level and climbing ivy engulfed the western wall of the house, softening the dark stone with a green touch.

  Built in the shape of a horseshoe with the open end towards the gate, the house rose a solid two stories up with a tower in one of the rear corners of the building that had a flat top. A pair of solid, iron bound wooden doors sat on top of a set of polished stone steps in the middle of the center part as well. As we approached, those doors opened to reveal a couple I could only guess were Kassandra’s parents.

  They were both dressed in fine clothing, with the man in a long tunic of wine red that matched the dark scales of his tail, and his wife in a close-fitting amber dress that buttoned to her neck and wrists. She also had on a leather under-bust corset much like Kassandra always wore, though hers was heavily embroidered and decorated with a pattern of silver roses. Kassandra clearly got her hair from her mother, with the older woman sporting a similar mane of curls, while Kassandra’s father peered down at them through a pair of silver spectacles so like Kassandra’s, rubbing his clean-shaven chin with one hand.

  “Kass,” I whispered urgently to the dwarf lamia at my side. “Do we need to act any special way around your parents? Do need to act in any way, specifically?” I hadn’t had the chance to ask Rieka this when I’d met her mother, but it was still better to try and confirm than risk a bad first impression.

  “No,” Kassandra said firmly, pushing herself higher on her tail to loop an arm through mine firmly. “You most definitely do need to act any differently than normal, Liam.”

  “But what about—” I started to ask, but cut off when the man of the pair spoke, a smile breaking out on his face.

  “Welcome home, our daughter. And a great welcome to her friends!” The older man said, bowing his head towards our group.

  “Indeed, we’ve heard quite a bit about you all,” said Kassandra’s mother, curtsying towards our group as well. “I look forward to learning more about you while we can, but we don’t intend to monopolize you or your friend’s time, Kassandra.”

  “Thank you mother, father,” Kassandra replied somewhat stiffly, though she didn’t release my arm. Something that her mother noted with a small smile and a raised eyebrow.

  When the older woman’s eyes darted to my face, I could tell she was studying me intently. I’d dealt with such searching looks before when I dated in highschool, from mothers judging if their daughters had chosen a good man or not.

  Apparently, I passed her inspection, because the older woman gave me a smile before turning her attention back to Kassandra.

  “Come, let us retire inside and you can formally introduce us. But where are your things?” Kassandra’s mother asked, concern leaking into her tone. “Did the carriage driver forget to unload them?” She started to turn to look towards the stables, but Kassandra was quick to answer her.

  “We have everything, mother. Dimensional pouches.”

  Her father whistled appreciatively, his eyes sparkling behind his little glasses in a way that reminded me of Kassandra.

  “Quite the investment, but one cannot argue with the effectiveness or security of such devices. Until a thief steals what he thinks is your purse and gets away with everything you own.”

  “I’d like to see a thief try that and actually get away with Liam looking after us,” Kassandra replied archly. The sharp reply made both of the older Silverscales eyebrows go up and look to me again with appraising looks.

  I weathered their study with as much indifference as I could muster. If they needed me to prove myself, then I could, but I was bonded to Kassandra and my girls. They were the ones that I actually cared about impressing on a day to day.

  “I can imagine so, if even a third of the stories you’ve told us about him in your letters are true,” Kassandra’s mother said, a gentle smile smoothing its way across her face. “But come, let us talk inside where we can be comfortable and make formal introductions.”

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